JCU Gladiators: Soccer Playoffs Week

April 23, 2015

Women’s Soccer:

JCU Lady Gladiators 2015

On Wednesday 22th, the JCU Lady Gladiators faced the AUR She Wolves in the semifinal match of the Roman Universities Championship.

The JCU Ladies were extremely motivated and hit the ground running by asserting a strong attack from the first blow of the whistle, but nonetheless found AUR’s goalie in good shape. After numerous cracks at the AUR’s net, Captain Martynovych and her teammates finally took the lead thanks to a duo of remarkable goals by Stoneman!

Despite the frequent substitutions ordered by Coach Farina, JCU maintained ball possession with stability and control, paving way for the 4 additional goals by the stars of the match, Hegel (1) and Velasquez (3).

Both teams displayed great sportsmanship and fair play. As the final match draws closer, The JCU Lady Gladiators are preparing for the ultimate battle of the Championship, which will be against the winner of this Thursday’s match between Foro Italico and Cattolica.

Men’s Soccer:

JCU Male Gladiators

JCU-UCSC: 1-2

On Monday, 20th April 2015, the JCUmale Gladiators took on UCSC in the quarter final tournament of the season. From the early minutes of the match, it was clear that the Gladiators were going to face a tough battle.

At halftime, the Gladiators grew distracted and lost their determination as, to everyone’s surprise, JCU found themselves in a two goal deficit. Coach Concari decided to change his strategy, and changed the formation to 3-5-2 instead of the 4-4-2 used in the first half.

The Gladiators battled even harder the second half, with Captain Sergio Romano scoring a penalty kick that started to balanced the score.

For the remainder of the game however, the Gladiators pushed on, yet were unable to equal the score as it concluded 2-1 in favour of UCSC. The most valuable player of the game this round goes to Riccardo Vallese, for his incessant determination and drive that encouraged his fellow teammates.

JCU-UPL: 1-2

As the Gladiators unfortunately found themselves in the knock-out bracket due to Monday night’s result, JCU faced UPL on Wednesday, 22 April. Following the trend of the previous match, this game didn’t prove an easy one for the Gladiators either. A rough and incessant battle from the onset, the Gladiators were not able to bag any goals, leaving the game at nill-nill by the end of regular play time.

The match eventually proceeded to penalties, and despite Goalie Verrina saving 3 strong penalties, an almost impossible feat during a game let alone a penalty shootout, the Gladiators were not able to balance the difference, ending the game 2-1 in favor of UPL.